Episode names/metadata not loading

General Discussions
1

I know this has been asked a few times (I’ve seen many posts like mine) but none of the solutions has worked for me.

I am pretty new to Plex (started using 2 weeks ago) so I’m not sure what I’m missing. There are a couple of series that are having issues getting metadata for episodes. Sometimes, manually Updating Metadata for individual episodes work but for these, nothing is working. Some of the shows are The Legend of Korra, Buffy, and Strangers with Candy. Some were DVD ripped, others were downloaded.

I have the episodes labeled. correctly (Series name > Season > Series Name S#E# Title of Episode) and have unchecked and moved Personal Media to the bottom of the list in Agents. I have looked at tvdb.com and the episodes are on there and have all the information associated with it.

I have removed the episodes from my server (a WD NAS), scanned to make sure the episode was removed from Plex, added it back (I even changed the file type to no avail), scanned and tried to Update Metadata for individual episodes, series, and all TV Show Library.

I just don’t understand why only some episodes aren’t loading. Like I said - I’m a n00b. I don’t want to have to manually update each episode.

Forgot to mention that one series (Futurama) isn’t loading any episode data. It just uses Episode 1, Episode 2, etc. instead of the actual title of the episode.

Any assistance to get this resolved would be very appreciated!

Thanks.

2

I am having a similar issue. All my the new episodes from 2 weeks ago are not getting their name from the TVDB. So I have my season with the last episode shown as “Episode 7” for example even though the name is there in the TVDB.

It is not a specific show but literally all the new ones. I tried the dance and now all the episodes of ‘danced’ show now has no names.

My Shows TVDB agent is set to highest priority. The library has default agent as TVDB. Everything worked well until this started happening namely 2 weeks ago.

I appreciate any help.

3

Exactly. As I peruse the other shows I have, I notice that there are more than what I originally posted.

Just wanting to know what’s going on and how to fix this as it’s quite annoying!

4

After trying to change agents back and forth, I have had one show recognize some episodes but not all. Nothing is working. No dance! Nothing!

I have no idea what the issue is. Is it possibly an issue with the TVDB? It just makes no sense that it can pull info for an Episode 6 but not Episode 5!!

5

That’s the exact issue I’m experiencing. No idea what would be causing it unless there’s something slightly off on that one episode on TVDB that’s making it not recognize the episode and update the metadata. I wouldn’t even know how to check that. I have gone through to make sure everything matches and it does. I’m pretty in the dark.

I haven’t switched Agents back and forth, though. I’ll try that and see what happens.

6

Futurama is displaying correctly in Plex for me, as well as my other TV Shows including those that have new episodes, or that I add new episodes to it.

You can always go to thetvdb.com and search for the show, in this case Futurama, and you get results, TVDB is not down or having issues. If you get a delay or no results, TVDB may be having issues.

Also, make sure you follow the naming scheme that Plex prefers : support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows

If your filenames aren’t in this manner, you can search for, and use, Filebot to rename the files as it can search TVDB and rename your files in bulk.

Have you tried the Plex dance? I think some of you have. I think it’s move your Futurama, or TV show, directory out of your Plex library directory (don’t delete the directory), Scan your TV Shows, Optimize database, Clean Bundles, Empty Trash. Move Futurama back into your Plex Library directory, Scan, Optimize, Clean and Empty.

As an example:

Futurama/Season 01/Futurama - S01E01 - Space Pilot 3000.mkv
Futurama/Season 01/Futurama - S01E02 - The Series Has Landed.mkv
Futurama/Season 01/Futurama - S01E03 - I, Roommate.mkv

You may try Refresh Metadata under the ‘…’ of the show or library. WARNING!!! IF YOU CHOOSE ‘LIBRARIES’ or your TV Shows library, it WILL take time depending on the size of your library(ies) as Plex will try to refresh the metadata of each and every item, movie, song, episode, etc. so be careful of the depth of which you choose to refresh the metadata. :smile:

7

I have the files labeled correctly. I have done the Plex Dance numerous times and no change to the metadata. It pulls the Series posters but not the individual seasons. I have also updated metadata on all the TV Show library.

On the ones where only one episode isn’t updating, it has the Series and Season posters. Just random episodes are either displaying as Episode # or the date it was aired.

8

Settings - Server - Network - ‘Show Advanced’ - “Enable server support for IPv6” <-- DISABLE
Afterwards, restart Plex server or the whole server device

Are you using mp4 files?
If you do:
Go to Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheTVDB
In there, grab the line ‘Local Media Assets’ with your mouse and drag it downwards, so it ends up being at the bottom of the stack of active agents.
Repeat the same under
Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheMovieDatabase
+
Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - Plex Movie
+
Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - TheMovieDatabase

Then try again to Plex Dance one show

1 Like
9

IPv6 disabled.

Everything was working before. I had a full show recognized but only couple of weeks ago, new episodes stop being recognized.

The show is matched. The show main page, artwork, description, cast, and so on, are all fine.

It is only the Episode Names that I am having trouble with.

IPv6 is disabled. It always was disabled.
I did the Plex Dance and now the whole show does not have episode names.
I deleted the agents cache.
I changed the agents so that TheTVDB is the only one that matters.

The show is defined on TheTVDB. Shows like Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, Black Mirror, Suits, etc, all have issues with the newly added episodes. Doing the dance caused all episode names to disappear.

This either has something to do with TheTVDB or it is due to some recent Plex server update.

Note: By the way, there is another thread with the same issue and I suggest merging both to reduce clutter and help pool the solutions: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/285630/episode-title-not-just-episode-1

10

Do you have ‘debug’ logging active?
If not, please enable it, then Refresh Metadata on one show.
Do also please post the Plex XML info of one affected episode.

Afterwards, wait 3 minutes
then fetch log files and attach them here

11

The XML and the logs:

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.
12

I have recently been running into this problem. However, if Match does not show up in the pop-up menu then I can usually fix the problem by first selecting ‘Analyze’ in the menu. The operation finishes very quickly, then, as long as my file naming is righteous, clicking on ‘Refresh Metadata’ will download and update the show properly.

13

I tried that and it did not help. Note that I tested with TV Shows and not Movies. It is only an issue with Episode Names as the show is being matched correctly.

14

Looking into the logs, I see where the issue is but I have no idea why this happens:

2017-09-03 07:34:50,762 (1a6c) :  DEBUG (networking:166) - Requesting 'https://tvdb2.plex.tv/series/247808/episodes?page=1'
2017-09-03 07:37:31,986 (1a6c) :  INFO (logkit:16) - Problem with the request: The read operation timed out
2017-09-03 07:37:31,987 (1a6c) :  INFO (logkit:16) - Show ordering is DVD: False
2017-09-03 07:37:31,987 (1a6c) :  DEBUG (threadkit:234) - Starting a parallel task set named UpdateEpisodes with 0 tasks
2017-09-03 07:37:31,989 (1a6c) :  DEBUG (threadkit:244) - Parallel task set UpdateEpisodes ended

The read operation is timing out on episodes which is consistent with the issue of having show data but not episode data.

I can access TheTVDB normally.

15

Your above error message implies, that your internet connection is not reliable or heavily restricted.
Plex doesn’t contact TheTVDB directly. It uses a content delivery network (called ‘CloudFlare’) to spread the load - otherwise all those Plex servers could overload the original TheTVDB website.

Do you have excessive blocking implemented in your router?
70% of Plex’s connection tests do fail for your server

Sep 01, 2017 21:48:24.843 [13892] WARN - PubSub: Received notifyConnectivity event with incorrect async identifier (d2de36a2-d018-4ad8-bf76-66e567f77d6b, expected 3eb24b02-1219-4a89-bc2e-c75fc0414dd7)
Sep 01, 2017 21:48:24.978 [13892] WARN - PubSub: Received notifyConnectivity event with incorrect async identifier (ba939871-d1ac-4505-bf2b-d4aa68f3b040, expected 3eb24b02-1219-4a89-bc2e-c75fc0414dd7)
Sep 01, 2017 21:48:28.315 [13864] WARN - PubSubManager: Connection to 45.79.10.123 failed: Unknown error.
Sep 01, 2017 21:48:28.315 [13864] WARN - PubSubManager: Connection to 139.162.117.249 failed: Unknown error.
Sep 01, 2017 21:48:28.315 [13864] WARN - PubSubManager: Connection to 45.79.198.112 failed: Unknown error.
Sep 01, 2017 21:48:28.315 [13864] WARN - PubSubManager: Connection to 45.33.75.206 failed: Unknown error.
Sep 01, 2017 21:48:28.315 [13864] WARN - PubSubManager: Connection to 109.237.24.233 failed: Unknown error.
Sep 01, 2017 21:48:28.315 [13864] WARN - PubSubManager: Connection to 139.162.177.42 failed: Unknown error.

There appears to be also an issue with your media storage.
What is drive E: ?
local, external, networked?
Sep 02, 2017 02:21:33.239 [17364] ERROR - Error opening file 'E:\Plex\Anime (English)\Rick and Morty\Season 3\Rick and Morty - s03e01.mkv' - No such file or directory (2)

Is your server connected wirelessly or are you using an ethernet wire for your server?

16

E drive is a local hard disk. Plex server is installed on SSD (same PC).

The PC is connected via WiFi to my router but I have no issues with connectivity. I can stream from my server even with heavy transcoding to chromecast in another location. No issues with remote access.

I will check my router’s configuration again. It may have to do with a recent firmware update. I never suspected that but thanks for pointing it out.

But I do not have any firewalls or blocking in my router. Maybe it is an ISP restriction. I will investigate.

What is the issue with drive E:?

17

@ash_arani said:
E drive is a local hard disk. Plex server is installed on SSD (same PC).
What is the issue with drive E:?

E drive appears to be working intermittently
Error opening file 'E:\Plex\Anime (English)\Rick and Morty\Season 3\Rick and Morty - s03e01.mkv' - No such file or directory (2)

The PC is connected via WiFi to my router but I have no issues with connectivity. I can stream from my server even with heavy transcoding to chromecast in another location. No issues with remote access.

Sorry, but this has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Plex needs areliable connection to its meta data servers or you won’t be getting metadata reliably.
A wireless connection is not 100% reliable. It will always suffer from shorter or longer disconnections.
You can have all your clients wirelessly, if you like, but the server needs a wired connection.

18

Alright, I will test and see if anything changes. Having been with Plex for 3.5 years, it is really surprising that I just faced this issue.

I will report back. Thanks for the update :slight_smile:

19

I’ve had Plex for maybe 2 months. I haven’t added any Channels before this happened. I’m not entirely sure which file I need to read to see what’s going on.

My Server is a WD NAS (WD My Cloud Gen 2) directly connected to my router.

The XML:

<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="3" librarySectionTitle="TV Shows" librarySectionUUID="3e4df442-0c30-4bc3-b603-97fe8ddbb418" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1495837492">
<Video ratingKey="6304" key="/library/metadata/6304" parentRatingKey="6236" grandparentRatingKey="6199" guid="local://6304" librarySectionID="3" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/3" type="episode" title="Episode 1" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/6199" parentKey="/library/metadata/6236" grandparentTitle="Futurama" parentTitle="Season 1" summary="" index="1" parentIndex="1" thumb="/library/metadata/6304/thumb/1504423485" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/6199/thumb/1504423602" duration="1294760" addedAt="1504423116" updatedAt="1504423485">
<Media videoResolution="480" id="8412" duration="1294760" bitrate="1134" width="640" height="480" aspectRatio="1.33" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="ac3" videoCodec="mpeg4" container="avi" videoFrameRate="PAL" videoProfile="simple">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="8464" key="/library/parts/8464/1500929388/file.avi" duration="1294760" file="/shares/Public/Shared Videos/TV Shows/Futurama/Season 1/Futurama S01E01 Space Pilot 3000.avi" size="183474176" container="avi" videoProfile="simple">
<Stream id="19745" streamType="1" codec="mpeg4" index="0" bitrate="932" bitDepth="8" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" frameRate="25.000" height="480" level="3" profile="simple" refFrames="1" width="640"/>
<Stream id="19746" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="ac3" index="1" channels="2" bitrate="192" audioChannelLayout="stereo" samplingRate="48000" streamIdentifier="1"/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Extras size="0"></Extras>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>

The PMS Verbose Logs are attached.

Any suggestions (and maybe some info on where I would find the information in the logs) would be greatly appreciated.

20

@Rossome2648 said:
I’ve had Plex for maybe 2 months.

This Futurama episode is not matched at all.
guid="local://6304"

Is your tv show library pointing exactly to the folder /shares/Public/Shared Videos/TV Shows?
It must not point to a folder above and not to a folder below in hierarchy.

file="/shares/Public/Shared Videos/TV Shows/Futurama/Season 1/Futurama S01E01 Space Pilot 3000.avi"

You should use 2-digit numbers in your season folder names
Your file name should be
file="/shares/Public/Shared Videos/TV Shows/Futurama/Season 01/Futurama - S01E01 - Space Pilot 3000.avi"
(although you are very close)

How frequently have you scheduled your library updates?

Are you switching your NAS off during the night?

The PMS Verbose Logs are attached.

Please no ‘verbose’ logs!